The Kintyre Forum

Can anyone tell me what is the correct spelling of yon hill above the town?

I thought it was Bheinn Ghuilean

can someone advise what is correct?

Cheers

Hi Davie my O.S map( "memory map") has it Beinn Ghuilean, Cant find paper copy -- but I thought the same as yersell!

I would spell it Bengullion as it appears in the postcode book but it could also be Ben Gullion as in any of Angus Martin's references. Don't know about the other spellings. Could they be Gaelic. I was always taught to spell it like the former.

I am sure someone will help.

jeanette

Bitter End wrote:Hi Davie my O.S map( "memory map") has it Beinn Ghuilean, Cant find paper copy -- but I thought the same as yersell!

Same here, but can remember spelt Bengullion when in school (the four houses) Davaar, Knockscalbert and Kilbrannan.

I can confirm it is shown as Beinn Ghuilean on my OS map. Recently had to look it up myself whilst sending you some photos for the next batch of readers photos.
EJ

It is worth remembering that Ordnance Survey, when compiling maps over the years, used field gathering trips to ask local people for the names of rivers, hills, bays and other features of the landscape. When the name was reported by a Gaelic speaker, or was a name that existed only in its Gaelic form, the OS typically anglicised it.

Whether or not the person providing the name was able to read and write in Gaelic, and so be able to provide an accurate spelling of the name, this anglicisation was still done. There are likely to be many different reasons for this, however, most simply, in many instances it was because the surveyors had no ability to read or write Gaelic.

Nowadays the spellings that are used by OS are in many places reverting to the original Gaelic names, or both Gaelic and English, however, this is taking time. So, the Gaelic name is indeed Beinn Ghuilean, as far as we know, and the anglicised name would more conventionally be Ben Gullion and not Bengullion (ie we would write “Ben Nevis”, and not “Bennevis”).

While most of us know that Beinn means mountain, I must confess that I do not know what “Guilean” means, and don’t know if I ever learned what it meant, or even if it is known at all. The original word, on its own, would lose the “h” (ie Guilean, and not Ghuilean); these pervasive h’s that sneak into Gaelic words occur in front of only certain consonants, and only in particular circumstances to do with gender and case.

Anyone know the origins and meaning of Guilean?

Mary G wrote:Anyone know the origins and meaning of Guilean?

Mary

Ben Gullion means Hill of Shoulders and in the fifties we were taught to write it as I have originally spelt it.

jeanette

ah HA! Then the gaelic word for shoulder is gualainn.

can also be spelt guaillean,different places had their own gaelic for example isle of lewis has a diffrent gaelic than that spoken on the isle of mull,i am learning to speak it and it 's really hard work,kid's just whizz through it.

I ran across an article written on timesonline.co.uk that said there is a move to update gaelic and add words to it!! That seems to me on the same order as adding words to Latin. Where do these people come up with this stuff?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-1965717,00.html

Bobbie En Tejas wrote:I ran across an article written on timesonline.co.uk that said there is a move to update gaelic and add words to it!! That seems to me on the same order as adding words to Latin. Where do these people come up with this stuff?

hope they don't i'm bad enough learning the word's they have now

ullean's mum wrote

can also be spelt guaillean,different places had their own gaelic for example isle of lewis has a diffrent gaelic than that spoken on the isle of mull,i am learning to speak it and it 's really hard work,kid's just whizz through it.

You just beat me to it. Gaelic spellings will be different dependant on which part of the country that they pertain to. My father was a born mainland Gaelic speaker who had difficulty understanding Islay and Hebridean Gaelic where similar or the same words had different meanings. The late Sorley MacLean from Skye (distant relative of mrs. oorly) confirmed this in a documentary series explaining the names of the Munros. Personally, I have always used the Gaelic spelling for the Beinn.

ullean's mum, it would be odd hearing the Tongue on Mull amongst the Cockney, Tyke and Geordie

oorly

jdcarra wrote:

Bitter End wrote:Hi Davie my O.S map( "memory map") has it Beinn Ghuilean, Cant find paper copy -- but I thought the same as yersell!

Same here, but can remember spelt Bengullion when in school (the four houses) Davaar, Knockscalbert and Kilbrannan.

There was only one "house" ...Kilbrannan.

Away wae ye Sweletered.

The best house, by far
was the house of Davaar!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!